The Midtown Community Works Partnership is a public-private partnership formed to guide the redevelopment of the Midtown Greenway-Lake Street corridor in south Minneapolis. Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, and the Metropolitan Council formed this partnership to provide leadership, integrate planning, and mobilize resources for this corridor.

The MCW Partnership provides a forum to coordinate a wide array of public and private investments. We focus on projects that have community support and seek to enhance economic vitality, improve connections to the local and regional transit systems, and improve the surrounding neighborhoods.

Our Story

The MCW Partnership is comprised of top executives of prominent corporations and non-profit institutions, the Mayor of Minneapolis, and various elected officials from the Minneapolis City Council, Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, and the Metropolitan Council.

These Partners have committed themselves to unifying public policy around a common vision for the Midtown Greenway-Lake Street Corridor and mobilizing the public and private investments necessary to implement the vision. They realize that in order to sustain this renaissance, they must create a path for targeted public and private investment within the Lake Street Midtown Greenway Corridor.

The Midtown Community Works Partnership was created in January 1998 by leaders in the community who realized that while a renaissance of south Minneapolis was underway, a largely neglected, yet extremely valuable area of the city had been overlooked--the 29th Street rail trench that is now transformed into the Midtown Greenway. As discussion among these influential leaders progressed, a vision of an economically, socially, and environmentally revitalized corridor emerged.

At the core of this revitalization effort is the significance of place. The focus of the project is on 'placemaking and connections,' with the goal being to create an environment for both existing neighborhoods and new development opportunities that attaches a high value on the public realm. It is about developing places that encourage a strong sense of community and are unique, identifiable and memorable.

Successful revitalization of the corridor will be dependent upon three essential and interdependent components: a multi-modal transportation system, open space and infrastructure improvements, and mixed-use compact development.